When faced with the dilemma of mechanical fractures in biological systems, nature offers a smart solution: self-healing. Soft biomaterials, such as human skin, have the ability to self-heal or self-repair when damaged. After wounds heal, the skin is able to retain sensing functionalities. The ability to self-heal after mechanical damage has significantly enhanced the lifetime of biomaterials. In a similar vein, synthetic self-healing polymers would be able to repair themselves and recover functionalities despite being subjected to mechanical damage. Such self-healing polymers would find use in applications ranging from functional surfaces, electrical conductors, and electronic skin to provide enhanced lifetime and durability.
It is against this background that a need arose to develop the self-healing polymers and composites described herein.